Central defender Mere moves to Mexico

Central defender Jorge Mere is leaving Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln for Mexican first division side Club America. The Rhinelanders announced this on Tuesday. The 24-year-old Spaniard moved to Cologne from Sporting Gijon in 2017 and made a total of 96 appearances for FC.

Full-back Noah Katterbach (20) is also leaving Cologne and will initially join FC Basel on loan until the end of the year. The Swiss first division team then has a purchase option for the U21 international. Katterbach made a total of 40 appearances for Cologne in the Bundesliga.

After defense boss Rafael Czichos moved to the USA to the Chicago Fire at the beginning of January and the contract with Sava Cestic was terminated, the Cologne team only has two regular central defenders in the squad in Timo Hübers and Luca Kilian.

“For this reason, we are carefully examining the transfer market and are already in contact with candidates who fit our requirements profile,” said sporting director Jörg Jakobs.